Steel Mills
Cliffs Resumes HBI Plant Construction
Written by Sandy Williams
June 9, 2020
Cleveland-Cliffs will resume construction on its Hot-Briquetted Iron plant in Toledo earlier than expected. Construction was halted on March 20, 2020, due to the pandemic, but will resume with newly implemented safety measures. Cleveland-Cliffs plans to complete the HBI facility during the fourth quarter of this year.
The Tilden mine that supplies AK Steel Middletown and Dearborn will restart later this month. The mine was idled in mid-April with a restart scheduled for July. The accelerated return to operation is due to improved steel demand from AK Steel’s clients, particularly the auto sector.
“The demand for our steel, iron ore and metallics products has recovered dramatically over the past month, and in light of this, we are restarting Toledo and Tilden sooner than we originally expected,” said Cliffs Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves. “We suspended these operations in a way that allowed us to restart as easily and efficiently as possible, and that is what we will do. Our footprint is well situated to capitalize on the rapidly increasing demand from the automotive sector, which is occurring faster than our most aggressive expectations.”
Cliffs has already restarted numerous other previously idled facilities across the company, including Precision Partners, AK Tube, Mansfield Works and the Dearborn downstream facilities, including the PLTCM and the galvanizing line.
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Mills
Fall maintenance outages are coming in hot
Labor Day has passed, the sun is starting to set a little earlier each day, and cooler weather has begun to find its way down to many of us across North America. And you know what that means for the steel industry… Fall maintenance outages!
AISI: Domestic steel production ticks up
US raw steel production ticked up in the week ending on Sept. 6 after a decrease the week before, according to the most recent data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).
Domestic mill shipments slip in July: AISI
US steel shipments decreased month over month in July, but were up from last year, according to the latest figures from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).
Nippon and USS drop litigation vs. USW and Cliffs
Another chapter of the Great U.S. Steel Buyout of the 2020s melodrama has closed, with all involved parties terminating the litigation disputes between them.
Steel Summit: Analysts say demand likely to struggle until 2027
Steel industry analysts at this year's SMU Steel Summit said they see lackluster demand through this year and next.